references
Strength and Conditioning Journal: "The Effect of Grip Width and Hand Orientation on Muscle Activity During Pull-Ups and the Lat Pull-Down"
Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology: "Electromyographic analysis of muscle activation during pull-up variations"
Pull-ups and chin-ups equally work your lats, but there are some pros and cons to each exercise.
Image Credit: urbazon/E+/GettyImages
Image Credit: urbazon/E+/GettyImages
- Pull-Up Pros
- Pull-Up Cons
- Chin-Up Pros
- Chin-Up Cons
- The Bottom Line
Type
Strength
Region
Upper Body
Hang from a bar with an overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart or a little wider. Before you start the move, pretend you have jeans on. Now imagine tucking your shoulder blades into the back pockets of your jeans. This can help keep your shoulders back and down. Pull your chin toward the bar by bending your elbows. To help engage your back, concentrate on bringing your elbows down to touch your lats instead of thinking about bringing your chin over the bar. This can help prevent you from reaching your head forward, which can cause neck strain and can keep you from rolling your shoulders forward or back. Lower yourself to the starting position with control. Repeat.
Show Instructions
Type
Strength
Region
Upper Body
Wrap a heavy resistance band around the center of the pull-up bar. Pull the end of the band down and place one bent knee into the loop. Grip the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart. Place your other bent knee into the loop. In a slow, controlled movement, pull your chin up toward the bar. Lower your body back down. Since the band has the most tension at the bottom of the movement, it gives you a bit of a boost on your way up and helps offset some of your body weight.
Show Instructions
Check out more chin-up bars.
Check out more chin-up bars.
Hang from the bar with an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Before you start the move, pretend you have jeans on. Imagine tucking your shoulder blades into the back pockets of your jeans. This can help keep your shoulders back and down. Pull your chin toward the bar by bending your elbows, keeping them close to your sides. To help engage your back, concentrate on bringing your elbows down to touch your lats instead of thinking about bringing your chin over the bar. This can help prevent you from reaching your head forward, which can cause neck strain and can keep you from rolling your shoulders forward or back. Lower back down to the starting position with control. Repeat.
Show Instructions
Wrap a heavy resistance band around the center of the pull-up bar. Pull the end of the band down and place one bent knee into the loop. Grip the bar with both palms facing your body, about shoulder-width apart, then place your other bent knee into the loop. In a slow, controlled movement, pull your chin up toward the bar. Lower your body back down. Since the band has the most tension at the bottom of the movement, it gives you a bit of a boost on your way up and helps offset some of your body weight.
Show Instructions
The short answer is yes, they count, because they train your lats the same way pull-ups do. “Take the bent-over row, for example. You can do a pronated or supinated grip, and no one bats an eye. But when it comes to pull-ups, there’s so much argument if you change your hand position that one is better than the other,” Arent says. “They’re both pulling motions. If you’re trying to train your back, either will train your back.” So unless you’re in a competition that specifically calls for overhand pull-ups, your neutral-grip pull-ups or chin-ups count — no matter what people say.
“Take the bent-over row, for example. You can do a pronated or supinated grip, and no one bats an eye. But when it comes to pull-ups, there’s so much argument if you change your hand position that one is better than the other,” Arent says. “They’re both pulling motions. If you’re trying to train your back, either will train your back.”
So unless you’re in a competition that specifically calls for overhand pull-ups, your neutral-grip pull-ups or chin-ups count — no matter what people say.
Strength and Conditioning Journal: "The Effect of Grip Width and Hand Orientation on Muscle Activity During Pull-Ups and the Lat Pull-Down"
Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology: "Electromyographic analysis of muscle activation during pull-up variations"
